


Nothing Left To Say

by TheTeaIsAddictive



Series: I'm Afraid She's Rather Odd [2]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Graduation, Halloween, Inspired by The Gift of the Magi - O. Henry, Marriage Proposal, into one collection/story, it's really just a collection of one-shots that i'm finally organising
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-29 06:31:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10848393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTeaIsAddictive/pseuds/TheTeaIsAddictive
Summary: This was written about three chapters into BAFF, which is why Adam talks about his aunt although the main family member we actually end up meeting is his grandmother.Also, I swear (hand on heart) this was written literally years before I found out that Emma Watson had been cast as Belle. Call it serendipity that I chose the Halloween costume I did.





	1. Halloween 2014

**Author's Note:**

> This was written about three chapters into BAFF, which is why Adam talks about his aunt although the main family member we actually end up meeting is his grandmother. 
> 
> Also, I swear (hand on heart) this was written literally years before I found out that Emma Watson had been cast as Belle. Call it serendipity that I chose the Halloween costume I did.

**Halloween**

"Are you sure your aunt wants me to go tonight? I get the feeling she doesn't like me." Adam glanced around the door at his worried girlfriend, who was sitting on his bed in a grey school skirt and unbuttoned blouse, a red-and-gold tie and stick from the garden beside her.

"She likes you plenty," Adam called out, applying the other set of cat whiskers to his yellow-painted face. "Or at least, she _will_ once she admits she was wrong about you. She's like me, she absolutely _hates_ changing her mind." Satisfied, he made a snarling face at the mirror, and zipped up his lion onesie.

"I'm just afraid they're going to think I'm some sort of gold digger," Belle muttered, tucking the blouse in and not quite buttoning it all the way up.

"Nonsense," Adam said. "It was a legal requirement for you to know nothing. And besides, even if they do think that, your elegance and loveliness will prove them wrong instantly."

Belle blushed at the compliment, tying her tie, and reached up to kiss Adam lightly on the lips. "That's all you're getting tonight - don't want to spoil that face paint," she grinned.

"Screw the face paint," Adam said, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her again, properly.

"We'll be late," Belle murmured, but he began to lightly kiss her neck, and she melted into him. Their lips met again, and Adam felt her slender fingers on the back of his neck, twining into his hair. He tightened his grip on her waist with one hand as he gently trailed another up the seam of her blouse. Belle pulled lightly on his hair, and he groaned into her mouth, and it was moments like these, he reflected, that his brain could detach itself from the physicality of what they were doing and reason that he really, truly loved her at these times.

"Ahem."

The two of them detached quicker than lightening, as a vamped-up Lumiére snickered at their obvious embarrassment. "If you two love birds are done," he continued, seemingly oblivious to the awkwardness in the room, "we have a party to go to."

"Come on, Adam," Belle smiled.

"At your service, Miss Granger," he responded, as they backed out the apartment and locked the door behind them.


	2. Rockin' Around The Tree

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas, 2014

Belle and Adam were sitting in their living room, both absorbed in their relative tasks - Belle was doing some required reading for the third year of her English course at the University of Inverness, and Adam was carefully tilting his laptop towards his body, trying to avoid letting Belle see the Christmas present he was trying to get her. He was hoping to get a poster with the quote "I am no bird, and no net ensnares me" from Jane Eyre, Belle's favourite book, but the person he was currently in a bidding war against on eBay seemed as determined as he was to get it. He huffed a little in frustration, and tucked his long hair behind his ear.

Belle glanced up at the noise, and a smile softened her face as she looked at her boyfriend of nearly two years. They had been through a lot together, she thought, as she remembered the dramatic events of her first year at university: their initial disagreements, their bonding over books and the deaths of their parents, her father's mysterious disappearance for months on end, and her struggles to move on from what even now she had trouble thinking of as an abusive relationship with her high school boyfriend, George Castin. Not to mention what had happened between him and Adam that fateful night in January . . .

She shivered at the remembrance. _It's in the past, Belle,_ she thought. _It's over._ Still, she was having trouble focusing on her books now that George had come into her mind again. She got up, and walked over to the radio, planning on distracting herself with a little music. As the radio popped to life, she thought she could hear the end bars of the eternal Christmas song by Mariah Carey dragged out every year, that she unashamedly loved to pieces.

"Aaaalright, everybody, that was 'All I Want for Christmas Is You', by Mariah Carey - not that you needed told." Adam looked up. "Next up," the radio presenter announced, "another Christmas classic. Come on folks, why don't you just rock around that tree." Adam started to smile, and as the room filled with music, he darted over to Belle, and snuck his hand around her waist.

"You dancing?" he asked, in an atrocious Glasgow accent.

"You asking?" Belle replied, in an even shabbier one.

"I'm asking," he smiled, as the song started to play.

"Then I'm dancing," Belle grinned, and she turned up the music as Adam led her to the middle of the living room floor. He placed his hand on her waist, she grabbed onto his shoulder, and they started careering around the room.

_Rockin' around the Christmas tree,_  
Have a happy holiday  
Everyone dancin' merrily  
In the new old-fashioned way. 

The instrumental hit, the saxophone started playing, and the dancing got even madder. Adam was spinning Belle around like mad, and she screamed with laughter. They met again, and started doing a very bad waltz, which was hampered by the fact that the song was in 4/4. They slowed down again a little bit for the verse, as Belle whispered in his ear, "Your neighbours are going to _hate_ us."

_You will get a sentimental feeling when you hear_  
Voice singing 'Let's be jolly,  
Deck the halls with boughs of holly' 

"I'm going try and swing you round on the last line!" Adam laughed, as they swayed energetically on the spot.

"Don't you dare! You'll drop me!" Belle said back, only half-joking.

_Rockin' around the Christmas tree,_  
Have a happy holiday  
Everyone dancing merrily  
In the new 

"Brace yourself," Adam said.

_Old_

"Wait, you're serious?"

_Fa-_

"Deadly," he said, gripping her waist tightly.

_-shioned_

Adam lifted Belle suddenly, and she grabbed onto his shoulders as hard as she could -

_Way!_

He spun her around, once, twice, three times, her hair flying about, both of them laughing and shrieking like idiots, before Adam lost his balance and they both crashed into the waiting sofa, Adam painfully sandwiched between the hard edges of what was normally a soft sofa and the full weight of his girlfriend on his chest.

"I _told_ you it wouldn't work," Belle teased, a smile bright as summer on her face, before she leaned down and kissed him. It was soft but excited, lingering but still over too fast. They broke apart, and outside the window, snow began to fall.

"Merry Christmas, Belle," Adam said.

"Merry Christmas, Adam," she smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a short ficlet prompted by Zerrochi on ff.net during my (unofficial) Yuletide celebrations circa. 2014.


	3. All I Want

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas, 2016. A momentous occasion, and a special gift.

**All I Want**

It was a particularly cold winter the year Belle and Adam had the adventure that would later be the second-most popular bedtime story their children ever heard - the _most_ popular being the story of how they met. The heating was spotty at best, the gas and electric bills weren't being correctly charged, and their respective Christmas bonuses had both been spread thin trying to pay for everything that let them keep the house.

It was a wonderful old house that Adam had found while they were celebrating their third anniversary trying to find a clear spot to gaze at the stars. It was built in the 1910s, a ground floor and a first floor, with four bedrooms, a study facing the garden for Adam to work in, and a large Room of Stuff for Belle to store her various archives of old book reviews if she ever needed to reference them. The kitchen was about twice the size of the galley kitchen in Adam's flat, the living room had an actual fire in it (that neither of them had yet dared to light) and if Cogsworth, Lumière, Babette or any of their other friends wanted to visit, there was plenty of room for all of them. It was a truly lovely little house, if it wasn't for all the heating and electric problems. It reminded Adam a lot of his childhood home.

That particular year, Belle and Adam had agreed to try and get each other's Christmas presents in secret, despite this failing completely every year they had tried it. Time had marched on, Adam still thinking he had plenty of time to get Belle's present, when suddenly it was Christmas Eve and he still didn't have the money needed to buy her gift. He had noticed for a while now that Belle's collection of Charlotte Bronte novels (which really meant Jane Eyre, Villette and Shirley - Belle didn't like The Professor) was deficient, in that she stubbornly held onto the old copy of Jane Eyre he had bought her three years ago in Leakey's bookshop, trying to get her to like him, instead of getting one that matched the covers of the other books. So, this Christmas he had had the bright idea of getting older copies of Villette and Shirley, so that they matched Jane Eyre. But the flaw in his plan was that the problems with the house had eaten all his money, and he was both too proud and too poor to borrow money off of anyone else.

And that was how he ended up pacing up and down the streets of Inverness at 5 p.m. on Christmas Eve, trying to think of a way to get enough money to buy Belle her Christmas present. He really didn't want to go back to Belle empty-handed. Adam knew she wouldn't really mind - she knew as well as him that money was tight for the both of them - but he still wanted to do something for her, Belle, Belle, the love of his life, hopefully someday maybe his -

Out the corner of Adam's eye, he saw a small illuminated sign that read 'Secondhand Instruments: Buy And Sell'. He remembered the old violin he had in the back of his car Cogsworth had found in his attic last week - the violin that had belonged to his father and his grandfather. He remembered his father playing on that violin every Christmas, and how Adam had started to learn on that same violin just a few weeks before the crash that had killed his parents. But then he imagined Belle, with a Christmas present that she would love and would make her happy. And he knew he would do anything to make her happy. This wasn't sacrifice. It was love, pure and simple.

Adam turned and ran back to his car, hoping he would get to the secondhand instrument shop and the bookstore before both of them closed.

\---

Adam pulled up in front of his house, the books sitting in their bags beside him. It was pitch-black outside, but he could see Belle through the living room window, sitting at the table - maybe reading? He smiled to himself, and let himself in.

"I'm home!" he called, hanging his coat up on the rack just inside the door.

"Great!" Belle called back. "Can you come into the living room? I have something to show you."

Adam followed her voice, making sure to keep the books behind his back. When he turned into the living room, he saw Belle, her back against the table, her fingers tapping an urgent beat, as she always did when she was nervous, or worried, or excited. He smiled at her. Adam always smiled whenever he saw Belle. She grinned back.

"I know we said we were going to wait until Christmas Day this year, but I actually can't _wait_ ," she said in a rush. Adam laughed out loud at her enthusiasm, and she giggled along with him.

"Maybe one of these days we'll actually open our presents on Christmas Day," he said. (They wouldn't. Their children's school friends were often puzzled whenever the kids announced that they had opened their presents two weeks before Christmas.)

"Maybe," Belle smiled back. "Have you got my present handy?"

"It's actually in my hands," Adam said. "On the count of three?"

"Okay," Belle said. "One, two, three!"

There was a moment of stunned silence for both of them when the presents were revealed. Adam held the two books in each hand, but whatever Belle had gotten him was still in brown paper.

"I - I think there may have been a breakdown in communication somewhere," Belle said.

"What do you mean?" Adam asked. "Is something wrong with the books?"

"I - I got you a violin case," Belle said quietly. "And I sold Jane Eyre for it, and you've gone and gotten me the other Bronte books so they would have had matching covers!"

"You got me a violin case?" Adam was stunned. "I sold the violin for these books!" He smiled a little. "Now that's irony if ever I've seen it." He looked up, expecting to see a serious or sad Belle, only to see a Belle struggling to keep in a laugh.

"It is sort of funny," was all she said, before the two of them burst out laughing, placing both presents on the table.

"Belle - wait right there, please. I'll be back in a second," Adam said, and he ran out the room, up the stairs, and back down again before Belle could even yell up to him to ask him where he went.

"Belle," he said quietly, a little box in his hand, "I sold the violin case, but I didn't sell this." He opened the box, and Belle gasped. It was a beautiful little ring, a silver band and a single teardrop shaped diamond in the middle. "Belle, you are . . . incredible. You're the kindest, smartest, most wonderful -" he paused, as his voice broke on the word "wonderful" "- most wonderful girl I've ever met. He caught her eyes, which were filled with emotion. "Belle, do you - may I - what I'm trying to say is -"

"Yes," she said, and she grabbed his collar, pulled him down to her height and kissed him. Her hands wound around his neck, and Adam pulled her close to him with the hand that wasn't holding the ringbox. They broke apart, smiling, and Adam carefully slid the ring onto Belle's finger.

"It was my grandmother's," he said quietly.

"It's a perfect fit!" Belle said, and she kissed her fiancé again, before saying, "Come on. Let's tell everyone we know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompted by So-crates Johnson on ff.net during my unofficial Yuletide celebrations circa. 2014. 
> 
> Guys, I just realised that they got engaged THIS YEAR, _UGH_ so many feelings!


	4. The Graduate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June, 2017. Belle, Babette and Cogsworth finally graduate from the University of Inverness.

**The Graduate**

"It doesn't even feel like I'm graduating, really," Belle said. "I've already been at the new job for two months."

"How's that going, anyway?" Resa asked, her voice slightly tinny in the way only landlines made it sound.

"Oh, great," Belle said. "I'm so glad I went for it. It's one thing to work at something you like; it's something else to actually work in your field."

"Newsflash, Belle: I know how you feel!" Resa laughed. "I've been working part-time at the nursery for months now!"

"True," she grinned. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," she confirmed. "You and Babs are some of my best friends, y'know."

"Thanks, Resa. You know I feel the same." Belle sat herself back up on the sofa, where she'd been lying for the past half an hour chatting to Resa. "Remember you're meeting my dad and Caroline outside the theatre."

"Mm hmm. Bye, _Katie_."

"Bye, _Theresa_." Belle hung up the phone, and got up to start dinner. The kitchen in their new house was a lot easier to navigate than the one in the flat Adam had moved into after he graduated, and even more so than the one in the residence halls where they'd first met and fallen in love. Before long, the smell of food was wafting through the air, as the sun set in all its usual fanfare, lighting the room in red and pink. Belle dished up, before washing her hands and slipping her engagement ring back on from the stand kept in the kitchen. It was in the shape of a little elephant Caroline - Mrs. Cobbs as of two years ago - had given Belle as a gift from her honeymoon. Belle ran her fingers over the ring, remembering the events that had led to Adam's proposal the previous Christmas.

As if her thoughts had summoned him, her fiancé appeared in the doorway, undoing the hair bobble that held back his still-long hair. He froze in the doorway, taking in the scene.

"You didn't have to make tea tonight, Belle," he said. "I was going to do it, after I finished filing the case study."

"Work's been rough for you lately," she said. "I don't mind doing this." She walked over and kissed him sweetly, rising up on her tiptoes to do so. He kissed her back, pulling her back in for two, three more kisses, before she backed away.

"Food?"

"Food," he agreed. They grabbed the bowls and sat at the table, eating for several minutes in companionable silence.

"Lewis wanted to know if we had an itinerary for tomorrow," Adam said.

"He didn't organise it himself like he did for yours?"

"I guess not," he chuckled. "Does it surprise you?"

"A little," she said thoughtfully. "I guess he's mellowed out in the last three years."

"Lewis? Mellow?"

"I said he'd calmed down, not that he'd changed his personality!"

Adam laughed. The thought of Lewis Cogsworth being _mellow_ in any way was strikingly funny, but he had definitely calmed down since Belle had first met him. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that his cousin's will was no longer hanging over him like a threat these days.

"It feels so weird," Belle continued. "This time tomorrow, Lewis, Babs and I won't be students anymore. It feels like leaving high school again." She paused to take a drink. "Except this time I'll actually have friends who like me. And you, of course."

"Of course," Adam grinned. "You've definitely got everything laid out so you won't forget it?"

"I'm not going to pull a Lumière and get to the theatre without my cap and gown, no." Belle finished her meal first, and got up from the table. "Could you clean up?"

"No bother, Lecteur," Adam said. Belle smiled at the old nickname, making her way to what was affectionately known as her Room of Stuff, to finish off editing a review. She could hear Adam putting the dishwasher on, and then his soft singing as he puttered around, trying to not disturb her. It was these kind of quiet evenings she loved most - ones where they existed with and around each other, there if needed and close by if desired. Small arrangements for the wedding had begun, mainly the setting of the dat as spring of the next year. Belle and Adam both agreed that given their current situation in life, a long-ish engagement was probably for the best. She didn't worry too much about it, though. If married life was even half as good as the last four years had been, through all the arguments and make-ups and bad times and fun times, with the comfortable rapport they had together that surpassed petty fights and held steady in serious moments - if marriage was even half as good as that? Belle knew that it would still be the best thing in the world, because she would be doing it with Adam.

A few hours later, in bed, he rolled over and said, "Talk to me."

"Huh?" Belle asked eloquently.

"You're doing that stoic silence thing again. Is it the graduation ceremony?"

She turned on her side to face him, shrugging the duvet up over her shoulders to keep in her body heat. "Sort of. I've just been thinking about high school again." She absently played with a strand of Adam's hair, rubbing it between her fingers. "I was so scared, back then. I had a few moments, sure," she said, remembering their first meeting, "but mainly I was quiet and mousy and afraid. And a lot of that was because of _him_ , yeah, but . . . I can't imagine being that insecure and alone, now that it's four years later. I'm just - I'm not the same person anymore."

"I know how you feel," Adam said. "Except for me, it happened in the space of four months, not four years."

Belle smirked. "You were a good person all along. You just needed to remember it."

"Same with you," he said. "You were this person all along." A mischievous light came into his eyes. "Ye just had tae be bahrayve enuff tae see it."

"Adam!" she laughed. "What did we say about Disney and the bed?"

"If ye had the chance tae chaynge yer fayte -" he continued loudly, before Belle pounced and shut him up with a kiss, sending him rolling onto his back. His hand settled on her hip, and when she pulled back, her hair formed a dark curtain on either side of them.

"Wood ye?" she completed, smirking. She kissed him again, warm and soft, until it became something else entirely and put an end to talking that night.

"Fate-changing has definitely been a part of our story," Adam continued as if uninterrupted the next day, picking up his shirt. "Can you imagine what would have happened if I never got up the nerve to ask you out to Leakey's?"

"You might not have gotten that scar," Belle said, running her fingers over it softly as she dashed past. Picking up her jewellery, she hurried back to the small vanity mirror set she'd had since she was little, now perched on a window ledge that overlooked Inverness. The sun was showing its face for once and the city looked particularly fine today, no mater how much the wind would make them feel half-frozen.

"Hey, that scar makes me look tough," Adam said, trying to lighten the mood. "Shows I had to fight for your love, too - like the knights in those Arthurian legends you were studying in third year."

"I suppose you're right. After all, faint heart never won fair roommate," Belle misquoted cheerfully, inserting her earrings. "I'm going to get the car keys and my robe, okay? Are we picking Babs up nor not?"

"We are," Adam said. "Lewis is getting a ride with Lumière, and Resa's making her own way there, same as your dad and Caroline."

"Cool," Belle said. "I'll see you at the car. Love you." She blew a kiss across the room, and Adam caught it, pressing it to the still-bare skin above his heart. "Sap," she smiled.

"I love you too," he replied.

\---

The three of them - Adam, Belle, and Babette - ended up only just getting there on time, due to the hellish traffic that day. Waiting her turn to walk across the stage, Belle could see Cogsworth near the front of the line, and Babette somewhere between him and Belle. She'd dyed her hair blonde a few weeks earlier testing out a new formula, and Belle still found herself struggling to recognise her friend sometimes. She applauded loudly as her old roommates walked across the stage, unable to pick out her other friends and family in the crowded audience. And then, quite suddenly, it was her turn to collect her diploma.

She walked across the stage, not looking out to the audience but at her professors instead, the men and women who had taught her for four short years. She was calmer than she thought she was going to be, all things considered. As she shook hands and collected her diploma, Belle smiled at her teachers one last time, before making her way through the audience. She nearly started laughing when she saw Adam had dragged her father and Caroline to their feet, an enthusiastic Lumière supporting Maurice's arm and half-squishing her parents between her two friends. Belle assumed they got all the pictures they wanted in the brief span of time she was walking, but even if she had asked, she doubted she would have processed their reply. Belle made her way back into the space where her other classmates were gathered, and that was it.

She had graduated.

After saying her goodbyes to the other people on her course, Belle managed to find her group outside the theatre like they had arranged. Babette ran shrieking into Belle's arms, and the two of them hugged fiercely.

"Congratulations!" Belle grinned.

"The same to you, Belle!" Babette said, flicking her lighter hair out her face. "Cogsworth! Get over here!"

With less hemming and humming than he would have done three years ago, Cogsworth joined the women, allowing himself to be dragged into a hug. "Congratulations, Belle, Babette," he said.

" _Mon amour_!" Lumière swung Babette into a deep kiss, pulling away eventually but refusing to let her out his arms. As he effusively congratulated her in French (using both the language and the kiss), Maurice and Caroline approached.

"My girl," he said proudly, before he was enveloped in an embrace by Belle. "Your mother would be so -"

"I know, Papa," she said simply, when it became clear he couldn't continue. She had never needed words to understand her father, just his embrace. It was his familiar hug of old, the one he pulled out on even the smallest of celebrations; her first loose tooth, her first short story, her first responses from university. Belle pulled back, wiping her eyes. "Caroline, come over here," she sniffed. They embraced together, before Maurice rejoined them in a family hug.

"Well, if everyone else is getting in on the action," Resa said, pulling Belle away to give her a hug as well. "Proud of you, Katie."

"Yeah," Belle managed, her throat tightening. It was as all-encompassing as the first time they had hugged, after the disastrous events of the 2013 Christmas ceilidh. Belle squeezed her friend a little harder at the memory. Her long hair tickled slightly, but it was nothing Belle wasn't used to already. "Thanks, Resa."

"Congrats, Lewis," Adam said, giving his cousin a tight hug that lifted him clean off his feet. "You'll knock the courtrooms dead. It'll be like Legally Blonde! Except you're not Reese Witherspoon. And you're not blonde."

"Yes, thanks Adam," Cogsworth laughed once he was back on solid ground. "I'll take that as a compliment." He huffed a sigh, his eyes growing a little serious. "I'm so glad you're here today." They hugged again, before Adam straightened up and cleared his throat.

"Shall we go take some pictures?"

"Sounds good to me," Belle said, slipping her hand into his as they led the way. She squeezed gently, and she felt a gentle pressure back. Grabbing onto her cap to stop it flying away in the breeze, Belle stopped him a few feet away from their still stationary friends.

"I love you," he said quietly.

"I love you too," she replied. "It feels so weird to be a graduate."

Adam smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear. He wrapped his arm around Belle's waist, pulling her in for a kiss, when her hands on his chest stopped him.

"Mr. Darensbourg," she said in fake shock, "you're trying to seduce me!"

He started to laugh, and Belle pulled him into a kiss. Their windswept hair flew around them, Adam smiling beneath her lips, and Belle knew that while part of her life had just ended, an incredible new chapter was about to begin.

There were five photos from that day Belle and Adam would show their kids regularly. After looking over the individual shots of Belle, Babette and Cogsworth, both throwing the caps and standing still, they drew their attention to the small collection.

First, the three graduates posing together. Belle and Babette stood to the left and right, their caps barely staying on, while Cogsworth stayed in the middle. They were pointing their fingers at the camera, pouting (or at least attempting to pout). Belle's poker face had started dissolving already, mainly because Lumière and Adam had been shouting instructions at the three of them. It was captioned 'Cogsworth's Angels'.

The next one showed Belle, Maurice, and Caroline standing together, smiling. Belle's cap had been foisted onto Maurice, and the three of them looked like they were about to burst out laughing. (This was because behind the camera, Cogsworth had managed to throw his cap on Adam's head without Adam noticing.) 'Belle and #Cotts' was written in black pen on the back of the photo.

The third photo had the confusing subtitle of 'Team Cupid + Honorary Member Resa Gerard'. Babette, (in one of the few remaining photos of her as a blonde, before she destroyed the other ones because "I looked ridiculous - like I had a feather duster on my head!") Lumière, Cogsworth, and Resa were in mid-jump, holding hands High School Musical-style. Adam liked to mention how all of them lost their balance when they fell apart from Cogsworth, an achievement that would impress Adam significantly more than anyone else in their friend group.

The fourth photo is of Belle and Adam, kissing in the middle of a busy street. His arm is around her waist, and her hands are holding his face. Her heels mean it's one of the few times she doesn't have to go on tiptoe to reach him, and despite their windswept hair covering most of their faces, Adam's grin is still visible. 'The Graduate' is written on the back, but to its immediate left in blue ink is written, 'Just AFTER Belle quoted'.

The last photo is of Belle, Adam, Lumière, Cogsworth and Babette, all crowded around a park bench. Belle and Babette are leaning over the top, directly behind Adam and Lumière, respectively. Cogsworth is between the two of them, on the bench. Resa managed to catch them mid-joke, all of them laughing. Belle says they were talking about the time Cogsworth and Lumière exchanged the lamest insults ever, about a clock and a candlestick. Adam maintains they're re-hashing the subject of Adam's twelfth birthday, when Cogsworth broke four plates and set off the fire alarm. Twice.

It's simply titled, 'The Flat'.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written exactly one year after I finished 'Behind A Fair Façade', and in a way it was me saying goodbye to the characters. 
> 
> Notes: Technically Babette and Cogsworth would not share the ceremony with Belle, since they're all studying different disciplines, but this is fiction, y'all. Also, Caroline is Mrs. Potts' first name, but since she married Maurice it felt strange to call her Mrs. Potts, and Mrs. Cobbs was a bit stiff, seeing as she's Belle's stepmum. Since I have yet to graduate, this was based off of a family member's graduation I attended.
> 
> Timeline-wise, I never really cleared up who was in what year, so: During BAFF, Adam is in Fourth Year (Senior), Lumière is in Third Year (Junior), and Belle, Babette and Cogsworth are all in First Year (Freshmen).
> 
> THEY'RE GRADUATING THIS YEAR UGH THEY GROW UP SO FAST


	5. Deleted Scene 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A what-could-have-been, and a rather meta movie night.

Belle had known who gave her the copy of 'Jane Eyre' almost before she read the little card that accompanied it. She'd been wanting to thank Adam in a meaningful way, but she couldn't think of a way to do it without bringing up a conversation about feelings it was frankly absurd to be having the day after they had a . . . date? Not-date? She sighed.

"Hey," Adam said, bursting into the shared living area of the pod with three straining bags of groceries in his arms.

"Hey," she smiled. "Need a hand bringing those in?"

"No, I'm alright," he said. "This is all I bought today - the shops close ridiculously early around this time of year."

"I could have told you that no bother," Belle snarked cheerfully. "Do you want a hand putting them away?"

"Sure," Adam said, and the two of them quickly unpacked the bags. "So where is everybody else tonight?" he asked.

"I think all three of them are out in Inverness for some sort of overnight theatre extravaganza. Or possibly they couldn't be bothered catching the bus back at half eleven. Either way, they're not here." Belle clicked on the kettle, setting down a mug and rifling around for a teabag. Adam handed one to her, fresh from the packet. "Thanks," she smiled.

"No problem," he said. "So, since they're all out tonight, you got anything planned?"

"Nothing exhilarating," Belle groaned. "I was going to go over my folio again for like, the fifth time today."

"That way madness lies," Adam said, only the faintest hint of teasing in his voice - although his eyes told a different story. "Believe me when I say you can only go over coursework so many times in one day before you actually make it worse."

"Well, I didn't have anything else planned tonight," Belle said, sipping at her freshly-brewed tea.

"I have an idea," Adam said. "Want to watch either an atrociously bad movie or an epically timeless one on a low-quality laptop?"

"Which movie?" Belle asked.

"We have Mamma Mia," Adam said with a frown, "or Beauty and the Beast."

"Disney's Beauty and the Beast?"

"But of course," Adam said, a twinkle in his eye.

Ten minutes later the two of them were settled on Adam's bed, his old laptop balanced precariously on their laps, and a careful cushion wedged between them. Adam had picked it up from the floor and handed it to Belle, and for reasons she would have been hard pressed to justify she placed it between them. Of course, that didn't stop their shoulders and legs coming into close contact. Nor did it prevent Belle from feeling the heat radiating off Adam, or practically hearing his heart beating in his chest. But if she could feel _his_ heart, which was fairly quick, she didn't like to think about the fact he'd be able to feel the irregularity of her own.

"Did you know," Belle said as the opening music began to play, "the original design for Beauty and the Beast was completely different?"

"Really?" Adam asked, turning to face her.

"Uh-huh," she nodded. "One design had Belle with brown hair and a blue dress, not the black hair and red dress here. And I think her dad was supposed to be an inventor in that one, not a merchant."

"This one's more like the fairytale, though, isn't it?" Adam said.

"It is," she agreed, and apart from general ribbing on the Disney 'style' of fairytale, they were silent for the rest of the movie. At some point, Adam's arm had ended up propped over the back of Belle's pillow as it had started to develop pins and needles. At another indeterminate time, Belle's head had started to rest on Adam's shoulder. It was a very nice shoulder, she thought. Warm, and comfortable, and just generally a nice shoulder. Adam smelled nice, too. Mint and lemon and a strange unlabelled scent Belle could only describe as 'boy'. His heartrate had evened out more than when she'd first sat next to him, Belle noticed. But she couldn't really bring herself to care about that fact at the moment. Not when her eyes were so heavy, and Adam so comfortable to lean on. She barely even noticed when he closed his laptop and curled his arm a little tighter around her pillow. If it was any closer to her body it might encircle her shoulders. _How nice that would be,_ Belle's last conscious thought was. _How nice it would be to have Adam's arms around me . . ._

When Belle eventually woke up, she found herself in that exact situation.

The cushion had been abandoned at some point in the middle of the night, and she was tightly wound up in Adam's arms. Her face rested perfectly in the crook of his neck, and she could feel the slow regular breathing of sleep on the top of her head, gently running over her hair. Her leg was slung around his waist - _When did that happen?_ Belle thought anxiously - and her arms hooked around his chest. Her left hand rested mere inches away from Adam's face. His own hand was a comforting warmth on the small of her back, and to her surprise Belle realised she was happy, here in his arms.

But it was too weird for her to think about the niceness of sleeping next to Adam when they'd only just gone on a first date. Quietly, she disentangled herself and padded to her room, but not without a parting glance at Adam, still sound asleep. A new emotion stirred in her chest, but Belle chose to ignore it. The time for feelings of that nature would come later, she told herself. So she scurried back to her own room and tried to go back to sleep in her own bed. But for some reason, her sleep didn't come as easily as it had when she was in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there were always a couple of scenes I had in my head that didn't quite make it into the story. Don't think of these as canon by any means - I couldn't fit them into the story because the situation was too weird or I'd missed my opportunity in the plot or just because the characters wouldn't let me! This one in particular was close to my heart and I was absolutely gutted it didn't work out. Think of this as an alternate version of the scene where Belle and Adam fall asleep on each others shoulders.


	6. Deleted Scene 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An alternate get-together, involving everybody's favourite trope, confined spaces!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place at Adam's house, in the week before Christmas. I have a soft spot in my heart for these kinds of situations, and if I hadn't wanted to follow the plot of the movie closely you definitely would have gotten this as a means to make Belle and Adam get together. Enjoy!

"Belle?" Cogsworth asked, seeming a little more harried than usual, "could you come here for a second?" Belle set her book aside and uncurled from her reading position on the sofa in the living room, nearly upside down and burrowed deep into the corner where the arm met the body of the sofa.

"No problem, Cogsworth. Do you need a hand with something?" Her toes flexed energetically on the carpet, the only indication that she was longing to get back to her book and find out if Captain Nemo and his crew would be able to reach the South Pole. Behind her back, Lumière and Babette exchanged a knowing look, and quietly walked past Belle and Cogsworth out to the hall.

"Yes, actually," Cogsworth said, his face a little redder than normal. "Could you come out to the hall? There's something in the cupboard under the stairs I need to get, but I'm not flexible enough to reach it."

"Okay," Belle said, desperately trying to cover a laugh at the mental image of Cogsworth being 'flexible' enough to reach whatever it was he needed. It wasn't often somebody as short as Belle was asked for help to obtain an object, and she couldn't help feeling flattered he'd asked for her help. He quickly showed her where the cupboard was, and as Belle crouched down to have a better look at the very, very small space she was about to enter, Cogsworth frantically gestured to Lumière and Babette to go up the stairs.

"Hey, what exactly are you looking for again?" Belle asked.

"Oh! Um, it's a, a, a . . . a whisk," Cogsworth said. "Electrical. Very essential for the run up to Christmas Day."

"Okay," Belle said. "Is there a light?" Cogsworth flicked a small switch on the outside of the cupboard, and a small, weak bulb started pulsing weakly.

"I know it's not the best," Cogsworth said, "but I just haven't gotten around to fixing it yet." He glanced nervously up the stairs, and at some unseen signal, suddenly starting bundling Belle into the cupboard. "Anyway, I guess you'll just have to make do, in you go now. And thanks again for doing this!"

"Cogsworth!" Belle shrieked, as she was unceremoniously shoved into the small space and had the door slammed behind her. The force of the shove sent her tripping over a stray hosepipe on the ground and almost crashing into the set of shelves directly in front of the door. She managed to catch herself in time, as a series of loud jolts and crashes told her somebody - or rather, a group of somebodies - was coming down the stairs. She couldn't hear any of their conversation except muffled sounds, but Belle was sure she heard Babette and Lumière. She drew closer to the door, pressing her ear against it to try and hear something from outside. The muffled sounds grew closer, and suddenly Belle realised she could hear Adam, too. They seemed to be in a calm conversation, and Belle relaxed. It was certainly weird for Cogsworth to throw her into the cupboard like that, but not anything unusual.

Suddenly, the door was flung open and Adam came flying into the small cupboard, crashing straight into Belle and also nearly falling into the shelves. He instinctively had his arms around her to try and break the fall, and as they staggered towards the back of the cupboard Belle ended up with her face pressed against his chest and a mouthful of his hair. She could feel his heart racing from the sudden shock, and the warmth of his arms wrapped around her.

"Sorry," Adam said quickly. He drew back as much as he was able (which wasn't much), and a small part of Belle was upset that she wasn't as close to him. Which was ludicrous, as they were practically hugging in the small space clearly not made for two people. And also because he was her friend. "I didn't mean to crash into you like that," Adam was saying. "Lumière is surprisingly strong."

"What are you doing down here?" Belle asked. "Cogsworth asked me to get an electric whisk."

"Lumière and Babette asked me to find a hoover," Adam said slowly.

"Cogsworth!" Belle yelled. "What are you playing at?!" Her phone suddenly beeped and she fished it out her jeans pocket; the small area meant she had to do an awkward duck and twist to get it out, bringing her closer to Adam again for a split second. In that brief moment his face underwent a change of expression strangely unidentifiable, if Belle had seen it. Instead, she opened her phone to find a message from Cogsworth.

"You two have been acting really weird lately. You're not coming out until you've got it sorted. Also, sorry for lying about the hoover. But if you find the whisk that would be great."

"Unbelievable," Adam said when she'd finished reading it out. "This is completely ridiculous - THIS IS COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS!" he shouted in the general direction of the door, twisting his head around. "We barely have room to move, let alone 'sort out' whatever this is."

"What do you mean, 'whatever this is'?" Belle asked. "We're fine, right?" Even as she said it Belle realised what Cogsworth had been talking about. Their outings together had been becoming increasingly more date-like than at the beginning, but Belle and Adam both seemed to be acting as friends at home. She could barely admit to herself that she wanted to go out with Adam - that she wanted to be able to confide in him, to have his arms around her without either of them making lame excuses, to kiss him -

 _Whoa there, Lecteur, slow down,_ she thought. _Even if you feel that way, there's no reason Adam needs to know._ But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Belle realised she _did_ need to tell Adam about her feelings. It was putting a ridiculous strain on their friendship, and clearly it was obvious enough that Cogsworth, Lumière and Babette had noticed.

"Yeah," Adam said a little breathlessly, "we're fine." But in such close proximity, Belle could feel his heart racing, and she knew he was lying.

"Do you think . . ." Belle took a breath to steady herself. "Do you think that we've maybe been acting differently since we started going out?" She suddenly blushed fiercely at her choice of words, and hurried to fix her mistake. "I mean - not that we're _going out_ or anything, but all the trips to the park, and the cinema, that's not really going out is it? I mean, we're friends. Good friends. We - we're not going out." She turned her face to the ground, bright red, suddenly very interested in the dust patterns on the floor. She noticed Adam's feet were almost twice as big as her own, much like how he was in general able to engulf her. The fingers on one of his hands could stretch across two of her palms easily, and his body in general was so large she would be able to fold herself up in it if she so desired.

"No, we're not 'going out'," Adam said, a shade of nervousness in his voice. "But - I wouldn't mind if we did."

Stunned, Belle looked up at him. A cautious fear was in his eyes, as if he was afraid he'd said too much but didn't dare react until she did. Her hands twitched by her sides, as if they'd reach up and cup his face if Belle let them.

"Really?" Belle asked.

"Yeah," Adam said. "Is that okay? Can I ask you out without it getting weird?"

"What, weirder than it already is?" Belle laughed. "Yeah, you can." She grinned up at him, and he smiled back down at her. "Oh, you've got a spider on your head," Belle said, reaching up to brush it off. Adam bent down so she could reach the top of his head more easily, and quite suddenly they were practically bumping noses.

Belle's hands were still wrapped up in Adam's hair. The two of them were breathing heavily, as if they'd run a marathon, and Belle could see only a thin silver of Adam's blue eyes as the pupils expanded. Tentatively, she pushed up on tiptoe, bringing her mouth almost in contact with his. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she could feel his warm breath on her lips. Her heartbeat quickened, and she was acutely aware of Adam's hands resting carefully on her waist. Gently, his lips met hers. His lips were rough and chapped, but his breath was sweet, tasting faintly of toothpaste and something distinctly _Adam_ that she knew she'd never be able to properly identify. They broke apart almost as silently as they started the kiss, but barely moved their positions.

Belle smiled, and as her happiness filled her, Adam kissed her again. He pressed his hands into her waist as she moved hers down to the muscles of his shoulders. Belle was distantly aware of her foot popping. The crash of something falling of the shelf broke them off this time.

"What was that?" Adam asked. Belle knelt down to see, and started to laugh.

"It's the whisk Cogsworth was looking for!" she exclaimed.

"Let's go give it to him, then," Adam grinned.


End file.
